Tag: business cash flow

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Startup

Launch Your Startup With These 5 Financial Tips From The Experts

Launch Your Startup With These 5 Financial Tips From The Experts
Launch Your Startup With These 5 Financial Tips From The Experts

According to a report published on Inc42.com in 2016, the primary reason behind many startup shutdowns was due to lack of funding. In 2017 lack of market demand was the primary reason for the startup shutdowns.

Starting your business venture can be a daunting but rewarding process. While a great business plan is imperative for entrepreneurs, financing is one of the most crucial elements that help a startup succeed. Many entrepreneurs often take help from a business coach to receive fundraising guidance.

Securing funding to launch a startup can be difficult. More often than not, entrepreneurs use their savings to start their businesses. Another report by NASSCOM states that around 25% of Indian startups shut down untimely due to failure to raise follow-on funding rounds beyond Pre-Series. A good and effective management of finances can make a massive difference between a business that keeps climbing the ladder of success and one that falls at the very first challenge.

Here are five financial tips that would help every entrepreneur or small business owner manage their finances better:

1. Create a Dedicated Emergency Fund

A contingency or an emergency fund to provide financial security in desperate times. This fund helps an organization meet significant expenses in unforeseen circumstances. Ideally, one should have six months of living expenses as a contingency fund.

If you own a business, it is suggested to create a larger emergency fund if your company has seasonal cash-flow fluctuations. It is best to build such a fund and invest it in a mutual debt fund as it will give far better returns than a savings account and help you encounter unforeseen challenges.

Having an emergency fund will also give you peace of mind, and you can make more confident decisions for your business. A good business mentor will help you how to create a dedicated emergency fund.

2. Avoid Expensive Credit Loans

Credit is the lifeblood of any business, especially for startups. Hence, entrepreneurs need to keep their credit scores high. Always pay your bills on time. When it comes to financing your business, the cost of credit is a critical factor, especially in the initial months of operation.

In the beginning, when the business has not even reached the break-even point, the company’s financing should be done by keeping the interest cost at the bare minimum. This will reduce cost and attain profitability. Never miss a payment or delay the payment date, even if you face a financial crunch.

Also, keep your credit utilization ratio under consideration. The credit utilization ratio is the percentage of your available credit limits that you borrow during the month. Keeping your credit utilization ratio below 30% will help you maintain a better credit score.

3. Keep personal & business accounts separate

It is wise to keep your business and personal bank account separately. It will provide the benefit of easier accounting at the end of the financial year for tax purposes and eliminate the cash crunch situations in business caused due to withdrawals for personal expenditure.

4. Bad Debts

Debts that cannot be recovered are called bad debts. When credit sales are not recovered, bad debts are created. Entrepreneurs should eliminate the situation of a fund crunch in business due to withdrawals for personal expenditure. Instead, these debts should be repaid in the next year so that a healthy financial position of the company can be showcased in front of potential stakeholders. You can also take guidance from a best business coach to plan your finances.

5. Develop Financial Goals

Keeping the in-flow and out-flow of your finances is extremely important. Planning a year for significant expenses in advance can help small business owners to reduce the financial burden. If your future business goals involve expanding and launching new products or services in the market, it is essential to plan everything related to finances.

If you are not sure how to manage your finances or ensure a solid financial future, you can also take the help of a certified financial planner. A financial advisor can also help you build a strategy to meet your business objectives.

Instead of investing all your profits back into your startup venture, save for your future by investing your funds into multiple investment schemes. A wide array of investment schemes is available, from stocks to mutual funds. You do not have to invest every last penny into your business; save for your future.

If you can improve your finances with a better emergency fund, a solid credit score, and a robust retirement savings portfolio aside from the equity you own in your business, you can run your startup with a more focused and peaceful mind.

And for business owners, who are some of the busiest people in this world, having financial security is genuinely priceless. Are you planning to launch your dream startup business but worried about managing your finances?

Do you have any other financial tips for our entrepreneurs? Please share them with us in the comment section below.

The idea of managing a business is more straightforward said than done, and we agree with you. This is why to help you move forward with your business goals, we at Bada Business offer an exclusive Business Coaching Program that comes with Foundation courses, specialized courses, and value-added courses.

To know more, visit www.badabusiness.com.

Categories
Finance Startup

Why Do Investors Invest in Startups? Here’s How Investors Add Value to Startups and Help Entrepreneurs

Startups and Investors (Photo Credits: Pexels)

For any business to flourish, there needs to be good investment and planning that will help the firm reach its target audience and go beyond! Here’s where the role of an investor comes into picture. An investor puts capital to use for long-term gains, while an entrepreneur seeks to generate profits by using those funds. Thus an investor is a crucial aspect for any startup, who typically generates returns by deploying capital. Investing in startups is a risky proposition. However, the low requirement for overhead capital along with high upside potential, makes it lucrative for the investors to put their bets on startups.

Basically, an investor is a person that allocates capital with the expectation of a future financial return or to gain an advantage. An investor can choose to invest in-equity, debt securities, real estate, currency, commodity, token, derivatives such as put and call options, futures, etc.

According to the official website of Startup India- startupindia.gov.in, investors particularly venture capitalists (VCs) add value to startups in a lot of ways. Some of them are listed below:

  1. Stakeholder Management: The investors are the ones who manage the company board and leadership to facilitate smooth operations of the startup. Moreover, their functional experience and domain knowledge of working and investing with startups imparts vision and direction to the company.
  2. Raise Funds: Investors are best guides for the startup as they help to raise subsequent rounds of funding on the basis of stage, maturity, sector focus etc. The investors aid in networking and connection for the founders to pitch their business to other investors.
  3. Recruiting The Best to Achieve Business Goals: Finding great talent and best-fit human capital is critical for startups, especially when it comes to recruiting senior executives to manage and drive business goals. The venture capitalists, with their extensive network can help bridge the talent gap by recruiting the right set of people at the right time.
  4. Proper Marketing of the product: The venture capitalists (VCs) assist with marketing strategy for your product/service.
  5. Merger and Acquisition (M&A) Activity: VCs have their eyes and ears open to merger and acquisition opportunities in the local entrepreneurial ecosystem to enable greater value addition to the business through inorganic growth.
  6. Organizational Restructuring:As a young startup grows to an established company, they help with the right organizational structuring and introduce processes to increase capital efficiency, lower costs and scale efficiently.
Categories
Finance

Cash Flow Mistakes That Can Shut Down Your Business

Cash Flow Mistakes that Every Entrepreneur Should Avoid

Small businesses usually have a few people handling multiple functions; hence business cash flow needs to be given priority. Sometimes there are hidden expenses that the entrepreneur does not account for which impacts the cash flow situation.  Hence, you need to monitor and optimize the cash flow management and try and remain cash positive. Here are some of the cash flow mistakes made by companies that can hurt the business

1. Forced Growth

  • Sometimes a company’s tend to grow without enough cash management. Unplanned hiring, too much investment in marketing or maybe a product development that has gone wrong, steps like these during business expansion can take a turn for the worse
  • The cost of a few bad hirings can hamper your cash flows. You cannot spend too much time on their training only, the results need to show. So be careful when hiring expensive manpower

2. Unanticipated Expenses and Emergencies

  • There can be a lot of unexpected expenses that a business can incur. Whether it is a natural disaster, an economic slowdown, an equipment failure or complaints from customers, every company has unplanned emergencies and not make a contingency plan for such business cash flow can lead to blunders.
  • Sudden changes in the taxes or other defaults from the taxpayer can affect the cash outflow.

3. Excess expenditure on Sales

Every business needs to acquire new customers but you need to see at what cost you are acquiring them. Maybe initially it can be at the cost of suffering loses, but soon you need to lower the CAC and also segment that which customer will help you generate revenue.

4. Being profitable but broke

  • This is a strange scenario that takes place in many companies. The money you are making is not translating into positive cash flows
  • You need to reinvest in the business in the beginning for growth, unnecessary expenditures need to be avoided at any cost. If the founder starts to draw a handsome salary from the first month, it will be a big cash flow mistake

5. Short-Term Profit Alignment

  • As an entrepreneur, you keep getting ideas that can be converted into a product and sold into the market. However, you see that the sales hit the roof in the first 2-3 months and then the demand began to fall.
  • Successful entrepreneurs set long term goals. The get-rich-quick ideas will only drain your business cash flow.
  • If you like to take short-term risks, then be smart to make something out of your existing line, sell for a short time, make money and fizzle it out

6. Increase in late payment or overdue from customers/suppliers

  • If you sleepover such overdue then the third party takes it for granted that you can work without cash for a long time
  • If your customer makes late payments, then you cannot pay to your vendor on time and this spoils your credibility in the market
  • Allowing too much credit can turn out to be a huge cash flow mistake 

Costs are like magnets, they try to draw out all your money, making you a little helpless in such a situation. Hence, for business cash flow management maintain proper records and spend your cash carefully so that the company does not face a disastrous situation during tough times.